DOE SCGF

Well, after crossing every T and dotting every i, David finally submitted the last of this year's fellowship applications-- the DOE SCGF. It was nice that their software was designed to double-check the app for the applicant, to prevent his accidentally forgetting something important.

After he finished, I had the privilege of reading Dave's essays he included on the app, and was surprised to see what a great writer he's become-- not just about science, but about his personal life, too.  Good luck, Dave!

Christmas gifts

This year for the first time, David shopped independently, without any help from anyone, (except to use my credit card). Online shopping is a great invention for autistic people, isn't it?

A person reveals a lot about himself or herself in the choice of gifts he purchases, as well as letting us know specifically how well we are truly understood by those who claim to love us. So, I was curious to see what Dave would buy for me; to see how well he understands me. Wow! David M. Nisson has really been paying attention to what his ol' mom is all about. He bought me Kisses from Katie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfXgCx3f_1c&noredirect=1

Katie Davis is a remarkable young woman, blessed with all the goodies of an American 1% life, and abandoning it all to follow in the footsteps of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. A Christian mom after my own heart...

Also wrapped under the tree (his first independent wrapping job) was Steven Solomon's Water. I'm barely past the introductory chapters of these books, but already I can see that both are exactly in line with my environmental, humanistic, and spiritual values, and I always find it interesting and reassuring to see the different ways that those with whom I share values use their gifts and talents. Good shopping job, Dave!

So, the best gift of all this year was the reminder that I'm so very, very fortunate to have been chosen by God to be the parent of the best human being I know- my son, David Nisson.

http://student.physics.ucdavis.edu/~nisson/en/

What is Person-Centered Planning?

Here is a link to an article on how the state of California uses "Person-Centered Planning" to help families of disabled children plan for the best future possible, and for helping the families of disabled adults maintain their quality of life:

http://www.dds.ca.gov/Publications/docs/Person_Ctrd_Planning.pdf

How will the 20% trigger cuts affect this objective of caring for the person more than for the state's pocketbook?

Merry Christmas, readers!!

Artists in our lives

So, in keeping with the "occupy", pro-99% theme this Christmas, we've done as much small-business shopping as we can afford, which includes patronising our favorite artists:

our cousin, Alan, who designs the world's best jewelry:

http://leedysilversmith.com/

(I guess, technically, Alan's a "cousin-in-law", as he's married to Dave's & my actual cousin, Heather.)

And then there's my sweet friend, Melody, who loves animals and makes them the dominant theme in her work:

http://www.melodylealamb.com/

So, before buying Auntie Gerdie that mass-manufactured knick-nack from a greedy corporation, how about shopping from a local, home-based artist instead?

Happy holidays!!

How to Follow Me

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David's Website

Just a reminder that David Nisson's homepage is at:

http://student.physics.ucdavis.edu/~nisson/en/

Physics Conference at SLAC

November 11 and 12 was the California section meeting of the professional organization David is a member of, APS physics. While he has attended a previous APS section meeting, this was the first time Dave was among those who gave PowerPoint presentations of their research results. His colleagues have informed us that he did well, given this was Dave's first talk. Left to right in the first photo are UC Davis graduate students Brian Neal, John Crocker, and David M. Nisson.

The fact is that watching David give that talk was surprisingly emotional for me. The last time I found myself fighting tears of joy at David's happiness and success was the day in June 2010 that he walked across the UC Davis auditorium stage in his cap and gown. I assumed that the next time I'd have that same feeling would be when he earns his doctorate, but I was wrong. As David spoke, I found myself swallowing hard to keep from embarrassing myself with tears of pride and joy. My autistic son, (whom some authorities told me might never speak a complete sentence properly), gave an informative presentation on his research in condensed matter physics
Dave has definitely disproved his childhood doubters...

A week later the editor of the UC Davis Physics department online newsletter, Ms. Cindy Lewis, ran David's summation of the event:

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*GRAD STUDENT NEWS*

Shouts out to the Traveling Team Physics, including Grad Student David Nisson, who recently attended and presented at (his first) 2011 California APS Section meeting. David shares his experience with us below.

“The 2011 California APS Section meeting was a great experience for me. My favorite part was giving my very first presentation. It was exciting to have a venue to present my first results on a study... Members of the audience told me that they enjoyed my presentation. There was a wide variety of topics in the parallel sessions. It was interesting to hear the results of other people working on condensed matter physics, including not only experiments but theoretical predictions. The plenary sessions were also very informative, including one about a new kind of measurement being used on high-temperature superconductors.”

“Of the 242 attendees of the 2011 CA-APS section meeting, 17 graduate students, researchers, and faculty represented UC Davis. The conference, which took place on  November 11 and 12 at SLAC, was well-organized by a team that included Thanh Ky Ly, Hendrik Ohldag, and Mary Moseley, among others. In addition to plenary talks, parallel sessions, and interesting panel discussion, the students' “Meet Your Rock Star” luncheon and a delicious dinner, where speaker Burton Richter of SLAC gave an eye-opening talk about the realities of energy policy, there were plenty of opportunities to simply meet new people and chat. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and no doubt some helpful collaborations were born.”